Henderson Park is acquiring a majority stake in German real estate developer GBI for an undisclosed amount.
The transaction, which is on behalf of one of Henderson Park’s funds, is subject to standard market conditions and is expected to close before the year end.
Henderson Park plans to build on GBI’s €1.5 billion portfolio of diversified living assets, which are spread across Germany. Henderson Park’s capital support will enable GBI to accelerate its growth path with a focus on sustainable and ESG-compliant real estate projects in subsidized and private market residential, serviced apartments, student housing and senior living concepts, under its established SMARTments brand.
Through its projects, GBI addresses the significant need and demand for affordable living in Germany and has earned a strong reputation as a reliable partner for local authorities, municipalities and institutional stakeholders throughout the country.
Hotel investments
According to data from MSCI Real Capital Analytics, GBI has 10 hotels with an estimated value of $386 million.
In 2020, GBI started a collaboration with Dutch hotel and lifestyle brand CitizenM that would see the latter expand in four German cities: Munich, Hamburg, Frankfurt and Berlin.
What they said
Reiner Nittka, CEO of GBI, said: “We welcome Henderson Park as our new majority shareholder. We share the same vision as Henderson Park, who is investing on behalf of institutional clients with a strong focus on ESG. Equally, we are pleased that the Moses Mendelssohn Foundation, GBI’s former majority shareholder, will stay invested in the company with a minority stake and our existing cooperation will continue.”
Christophe Kuhbier, managing director at Henderson Park, said: “GBI’s management team has built an impressive business and we are looking forward to supporting its continued growth and to further cementing the SMARTments brands as a leading operator of living accommodation in the German market. There is clear demand for the ESG-compliant real estate that GBI has a track record of delivering, and we’re confident in our ability to jointly scale the platform, whilst working in close coordination with GBI Capital’s investors to accelerate quality new home developments.”